Preview: Pair of Teams, Trio of Reigning Individual Winners Set to Chase Championships Again
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 6, 2026
One of the most notable winning streaks in MHSAA boys cross country history will be on the line – and could become even more extraordinary – Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Northville has won four straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals championships, and a fifth in a row this weekend would tie the Mustangs for the longest Finals winning streak in Lower Peninsula history. The Mustangs are attempting to catch Dexter (2002-06) and Charlevoix (1987-91) for that honor.
Holland Calvary Christian in Division 4 and three of last season’s four individual champions – Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Kamari Ronfeldt, Whitehall’s Robert Jazwinski and Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton – also are headed back to Brooklyn seeking to repeat.
See below for several more team and individual contenders. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first boys race, in Division 4, begins at 9:30 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information.
Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on the NFHS Network: Divisions 1 & 2 | Divisions 3 & 4.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Northville
2025 runner-up: Ann Arbor Pioneer
Top-ranked: 1. Brighton, 2. Ann Arbor Skyline, 3. Traverse City West.
Northville is ranked No. 5, and Brighton will run as the favorite to break the Mustangs’ streak and is the last team not Northville to win Division 1, doing so in 2021. The Bulldogs return five of their runners from last season’s fourth-place finisher. Skyline is running for its first Finals championship and is expected to make a major jump from 16th a year ago with four runners back from that team. Traverse City West also is seeking to become a first-time champion and brings back four runners from last year’s 11th-place performance. Titans senior Liam Wierzba has the fastest time this season from those three teams, a 15:04.5 to rank 13th on the Division 1 top times list, just ahead of Northville senior – and last season’s individual runner-up – Brandon Cloud (15:06) at 14th, Skyline junior Roman Stilwell (15:20.6) ranking 18th and Brighton sophomore Grant Kulesza (15:25.2) listed 23rd.
Individuals: Three juniors were the first three to cross the finish last season, and four juniors total placed among the top six – and all four will run again this weekend. Ann Arbor Pioneer senior Kamari Ronfeldt is the reigning champion and has the second-fastest top time in Division 1 this season at 14:44.3, just behind the 14:43 of Grandville senior Caden Livermore – last year’s third-place finisher. Northville’s Cloud placed second in 2025 and is noted above, and Howell senior Jack MacGregor placed sixth last fall for the second-straight season and has the sixth-fastest top time this year at 14:58.3. Macomb L’Anse Creuse North junior Xavier Solgot was 11th last season and ranks fifth (14:55) on this year’s top times list, with Grand Haven senior Luka Hammond third this season (14:50.1) and sophomore teammate Archer VerHage fourth (14:51.8). Hammond was 14th at MIS last year and fifth as a sophomore. Fenton junior Gavin Katic finished fourth in Division 2 last season and enters the Division 1 race tied for the ninth-fastest top time in this field.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Flint Powers Catholic
2025 runner-up: East Grand Rapids
Top-ranked: 1. Holland Christian, 2. Pinckney, 3. East Grand Rapids
As in Division 1, the reigning champion enters ranked No. 5 this time and certainly still in the mix. Holland Christian is looking to make a jump from sixth last year to win its first championship and returns four runners from a year ago with sophomore Grant Lampen (16th) and freshman Drew Franken (20th) on the Division 2 top-times list. Pinckney has two among the top 18 – seniors Cole McCraw (fourth, 15:22.2) and Lincoln Reed (18th) – as it looks to jump from 10th last season while returning five runners. East Grand Rapids returns only three runners after finishing second last season, eight points off the lead, but among them are junior Micah Becker – who placed seventh individually. He ranks ninth on the top times list (15:32.7), and senior teammate Thomas Fisher ranks 21st.
Individuals: Whitehall senior Robert Jazwinski won last season’s championship by five seconds and will attempt to repeat with the top time in the state this season in any division by 20 seconds at 14:23 – which is also nearly 44 seconds faster than anyone else in the Division 2 field this fall. Flint Powers junior Lennox Naswell is the next-highest returning placer after coming in fifth a year ago, and he has the second-fastest top time in Division 2 at 15:06.6. Alma senior Ezekiel Baltierra (sixth), Becker (seventh) and Grand Rapids Catholic Central senior Mitchell Dunlap (eighth) also are back from the 2025 top 10, Baltierra ranking third on the top times list (15:08.6) and Dunlap seventh (15:29.2).
Division 3
Reigning champion: Charlevoix
2025 runner-up: Lansing Catholic
Top-ranked: 1. Hart, 2. Hanover-Horton, 3. Charlevoix.
Charlevoix’s first championship last season since 1991 was among the stories of the day at MIS, and the Rayders will turn to five returning runners led by reigning individual champion Hunter Eaton, now a senior, and 10th-place finisher Ryder Hopkins, also a senior. Hart was 10th last season but without a senior, and five of those runners are back as well. Hanover-Horton has two runners among the top 19 on the Division 3 top times list, seniors Cooper Flick (sixth) and Chad Tyson (19th) and six runners back total from last year’s 13th-place finisher. Hart last won Division 3 in 2022, and Hanover-Horton most recently claimed the title in 2019.
Individuals: Only four seniors finished among the top 17 last season, and Eaton leads a large group of returning runners after claiming last year’s title by three seconds. He ranks eighth on the fastest times list this fall at 15:30.9, with Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest junior Nole Lorenzen setting the pace at 15:10.3 after finishing fifth at last year’s Final. Hillsdale senior Logan Youngman finished fourth a year ago and is second on the top times list at 15:18.3, and Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central junior Christian Craanen placed third last year and has the third-fastest top time this fall at 15:21.3. Caro senior Luke Herron (sixth), Holland Black River senior Jonas Ballard (seventh), Bath junior Owen Poppema (eighth), Saugatuck senior Marcus Silva (ninth) and Hopkins also are back from the top 10, and Jonesville senior Caleb Blonde also could be in the mix ranking fourth on the top times list (15:27.1) coming off a 17th-place finish a year ago.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Holland Calvary Christian
2025 runner-up: Maple City Glen Lake
Top-ranked: 1. Holland Calvary Christian, 2. Breckenridge, 3. Hillsdale Academy.
Calvary returns its top five runners and six total from last year’s program-first championship team, with seniors Noah Schipper (15:39) and Christian Getz (15:39.6) ranking third and fourth, respectively, on the Division 4 top times list and six runners total among the top 23. Getz was eighth and Schipper 18th at last year’s Final. Breckenridge last won in 2019 and placed eighth last season with four freshmen and three juniors; the Huskies return their top five with senior Anthony Rowe 14th individually last season and entering this weekend with the top time in Division 4 this fall at 15:33.2. Hillsdale Academy is seeking to move back into the top spot after finishing third last season but winning Division 4 three times over the last six seasons. Three runners are back from the 2025 lineup, and sophomore Stephen Holm ranks 14th on the top times list.
Individuals: Getz was one of only two non-seniors to finish among the top 10 last fall, and he’s the only one back this weekend. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian junior Lincoln Laansma placed 20th last season and ranks second on the top times list this year at 15:35.8, and Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart senior Brady Edwards ranks fifth (15:41.7) after placing 11th last season. Mesick senior Kyle Redman finished 13th as a sophomore and 12th last fall, and could make a move as well entering 10th on the top times list.
PHOTOS (Top) Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton pulls away from the field during his team’s Division 3 Regional championship run last week at Mancelona. (Middle) Several runners including those from East Grand Rapids break from the starting line during the Oct. 21 Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship race. (Top photo by kishba media. Middle photo by Michigan Sports Media.)
Fisher Chases History, Reigns Again in D1
November 1, 2014
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Grant Fisher's only competitors in Michigan are ghosts from the past.
While the state currently has a strong crop of cross country runners, they can't even stay close to Fisher, the Grand Blanc senior who ended his MHSAA cross country career Saturday with one of the fastest times in Finals history.
The only question heading into the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 meet was whether Fisher could threaten the seemingly untouchable Michigan International Speedway record of 14:10.4 set by Rockford legend Dathan Ritzenhein in 2000.
High winds — the only thing that could touch Fisher on this day — ruled out that possibility before the race started. It would take perfect conditions for such a quest to be plausible.
Those hoping to see history had to "settle" for a dominating 14:52.5 effort by Fisher, well off the record but still one of the greatest performances the state has ever seen. His time ranks third in the 19-year history of racing at MIS behind Ritzenhein and former Rockford teammate Jason Hartmann, who ran 14:51 in 1998.
Ritzenhein is a three-time Olympian who once held the American 5,000-meter record. Hartmann finished in fourth place as the first American at the 2012 and 2013 Boston Marathons.
"Dathan is Dathan," Fisher said. "He's the best high school runner ever. For people to compare anything I've done to him, in my mind I shouldn't be compared to him ever, as nobody should. Dathan's in a class of his own.
“You can look at his professional career and it speaks for itself. I've met him a few times. He's a great guy and definitely someone I look up to."
Ovid-Elsie's Maverick Darling (14:52.8 in 2007) and Saline's Dustin Voss (14:54.45 in 2003) are the only other runners to break 15 minutes at MIS.
It was only the second time Fisher has broken 15 minutes. The first time came under ideal conditions in the Portage Invitational on Oct. 4, when he came within a second of Ritzenhein's course record with a time of 14:43.
"To do it at this venue means a lot," Fisher said. "You can look back, as everyone has recently, at some of the fast times people have turned in here. You see some of the big names that have gone on to do some pretty incredible things. To do it on this course with so much history and to do it with my teammates next to me means a lot."
Here's the scary part: Fisher still had at least one more gear in him.
His race plan was to cruise through the first mile, go hard in the second, cruise through a downhill stretch, then go hard down the final stretch. He took a look back while going around a curve just after the two-mile mark. He couldn't see anybody approaching, so he followed through with the plan.
"If someone was right on my heels, the race plan would've gone out the window and I'd have gone into race mode," said Fisher, who also is the reigning Foot Locker national champion after defeating a field in San Diego last winter.
The race for second place was much more exciting, with only 10.6 seconds separating the next eight finishers. Saline senior Logan Wetzel emerged from the battle as the runner-up in 15:19.2, 26.7 seconds behind Fisher. Anthony Berry of Traverse City Central was third in 15:21.1. Waterford Mott's Ryan Robinson, who was in second much of the race, took fifth in 15:25.4.
Junior Isaac Harding of Rockford was fourth in 15:23.2, leading Ritzenhein's former school to its first team championship since 2002.
The Rams won a tight three-way battle, scoring 140 points to edge White Lake Lakeland by six. Mott, the runner-up the last two years, was third with 148.
Rockford didn't have a senior in its lineup last year when it finished 12th in LP Division 1. Five of those seven runners were in the lineup Saturday, with one noteworthy addition. Freshman Cole Johnson was the team's No. 2 runner, placing 16th in 15:40.9. That's faster than Ritzenhein ran during his freshman year at Rockford, though his 16:22.3 was good for fifth place on a slow, muddy course in 1997.
Also scoring for Rockford were Paul Burke (57th, 16:13.2), Grayson Harding (58th, 16:13.5) and Grant Gabriel (102nd, 16:30.1).
Lakeland and Mott had five runners cross before Rockford, but the strength of its top two runners carried the Rams.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Blanc’s Grant Fisher finishes his second MHSAA Finals victory Saturday all alone on the final stretch. (Below) Saline’s Logan Wetzel and Traverse City Central’s Anthony Berry lead a tight pack racing for second place. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)